A Simple 5 Step Goal Setting Process That Works

Achieve Your Goals!

Having some goals in your life is a great way to add some meaning to your life and give it some direction. Also, completing a goal on your list can make you feel great. How exactly to go about setting goals can be a confusing topic however, with many different theories. How do we choose one that is effective? In essence, the one that is effective is the one that works. The following is a simple process that will take up a small amount of time.

Credit: By Stuart Miles

Step1: Brainstorm all the goals that you would like to achieve:The first step in setting your goals is to take a piece of paper or text document and write down all the possible things that you would like to achieve in your life. Don't censor yourself, just let your mind run. Write down every single thing you can think of, no matter how impossible to you it may seem at the moment. Keep them within reason though.

Step 2: Put them into categories: The next step is to separate similar goals into categories. The categories are up to you, but I would recommend something like the following:

Career

Financial

Health

Relationships

Fun

Step 3: Choose a few from each category: You may be a person who can come up with 2 pages or you may be a person who can only come up with a handful. However, you want to aim for about 2 or 3 goals per category. To do this go through your list one time, putting a star next to all the goals that really jump out at you. If you have 2 or 3 for each category, perfect. If you have more, you may want to order them into their order of importance. To do this, go through your remaining goals and rate each goal out of 5. 5 being the highest. The goals with the highest rating are the ones you will keep. For instance, if you have 5 goals for health; 2 of the goals you've rated as a 4, 1 of the goals you've rated as a 3, and 1 you've rated as a 2. You would add the 2 goals with a 4 rating and the 1 goal with a 3 rating.

Step 4: Word them correctly: There are a few rules that should be applied when writing out the final form of your goal statements. Your goals should be worded in a positive way, they should be measurable, and they should be stated as though you already have them in your life. A good example of a goal statement containing all three rules is something along the lines of "I go running for 30 minutes 3 times a week." It is worded in the positive because it states what you will do, it is measurable because you have stated how long and how many times you will do the activity, and it is worded in the now; I go running vs I will go running (Future).

One thing that I do, is to fit all my goals into a specific time frame. My favorite is to put them into the time frame of 6 months. So if the goal is more long term, say longer than the 6 month time frame, I will alter the goal statement to be something that I can achieve in 6 months. For example, if one of my goals is to earn $100,000 in one year, I will change it to "I have earned $50,000 in 6 months," or "I have earned $50,000 by (insert date)."

Step 5: Visualize and Take Action: Next write your goal statements on a piece of paper or print them out. Put them somewhere, where you can see them everyday. Every morning, say your goal statements to yourself and then visualize them as if they were already in your life. One tip that I gained from Richard Wiseman is to visualize them in the third person, which means to see yourself in your visualization as if you were someone else. According to Wiseman, this way of visualization is more effective. Then do a little everyday that gets you closer to that goal. Momentum!

This method is the one I have been using for quite a while now and seems to work for me. Not every goal I put down is achieved, which could be due to a change in priorities or the goal not being right for me, but I achieve a lot more setting goals than not setting them. Enjoy.